Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
Catching Fire
Tai continued to hit his head on a store building. "So what now?" He groaned.
"I don't know." Koromon sighed. "What do you think we should do?"
The Bearer of Courage groaned and hit his head on the building again. "I don't know… I guess we'll have to ask for directions." Tai said, diving back into the crowd.
"Excuse me can you – "
- Sorry, I'm late! I'm late!
"Ok… Excuse me can you – "
- Busy!
"Tsk, fine then. Excuse me ma'am, can you – "
- No time!
Tai sighed and prepared to ask another person when someone caught his eye. A memory flashed though his head and he could recognize the person from it. "Hey!" He called out, but the person did not hear. Tai took Koromon off of his head and tucked his friend under his arm. Quickly avoiding the other people in the crowd, Tai reached the person and tapped her on the shoulder.
She quickly spun around and smashed a few heavy shopping bags into his stomach. Tai buckled down to the ground in pain. Koromon bounced harmlessly to the side. "What do you want?" The blond girl asked, holding her bags threateningly.
Tai groaned as he struggled to hold in the pain. "You.. you wouldn't happen to know where Neo's house is?" Tai could feel his breakfast coming back to him.
The girl blinked in surprise and lowered her bags. "Neo, as in Neo Saiba? Why do you want to see him?"
"I… need to discuss a few problems with him, but... I've forgotten where his house was."
The girl sighed. "Since when was therapy his thing?" She mumbled. "Alright, just follow me then." She started to walk away into the crowd. Tai quickly grabbed Koromon and began to follow her. "So what's your name? I'm Mari."
"I'm Taichi, but my friends call me Tai."
"It's nice to meet you."
"You too."
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A harsh sandstorm billowed in the sweltering desert. Countless road signs of every shape and size sprouted out of the sands. Perched top of a large stop sign, a winged skeleton happily tied a human to a u-turn sign. The yellow orb on his bone staff was replaced with the pulsing dark spore.
Skullsatamon patted Tk's hair, angling his head. "So we're face to face again, Child of Hope. Hah, oh it's been so long indeed. I wonder if you even remember. I know I do, oh when I could crush you all in the palms of my hand." The Ultimate then wrapped his hand around Tk's head. "I can still do it now. Vengeance could come so swiftly…. But you are still needed for our plan, for now."
Tk gave a tired groan in his sleep, irritated by the sands. Skullsatamon gave a hearty chuckle. "So hope still can't be subdued so easily. Heh, should have remembered."
A loud noise shot over the loud sandstorm. "It's time for the second round!" Skullstatamon returned to his perch and eagerly awaited the arrival of the Digidestined.
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Tai finally made it to Neo's house… or at least he thought he hoped he did. Mari had stopped by her house and forced him to carry some large boxes, obscuring his vision. "Careful with those boxes!" Mari barked. "You're paying for any of those clothes if any get ruined." Tai groaned and managed a tighter grip on them, remembering the ridiculous prices that Kari paid for some of her clothes.
"Fine." He sighed. Koromon continued to whisper directions around obstacles.
"Hi Rei!" Mari exclaimed, bending over to hug her friend. "You won't believe all of the stuff that they had for sale near the shoot."
"Hi Mari." Rei said. She then noticed Tai standing in the doorway uncomfortably. "Hi Tai! Neo's been expecting you guys. He's waiting for you in his room. Just put those down and head down the hall on your right. His room is the one at the end of the hall."
Tai quickly let down his burden on the table and followed the directions while the girls started having a chat.
"Expecting us? What do you think that means?" Koromon asked worriedly.
"I don't know." Tai admitted. He opened the door and found Neo sitting in front of a table. The guy turned around and grinned.
"It's about time, Tai." Neo greeted. "I've been waiting here quite a bit."
"For days?" Koromon asked in awe.
"What? No, that's crazy. I saw you guys walk up." He said, gesturing to a window.
"Aw." Koromon pouted.
"Anyways, I have a few questions to ask you two, so you've come at a convenient time." Neo continued.
"Yeah, we have some questions to ask you too." Tai said.
Neo paused for a moment. "Alright then. I'll answer some of yours, but first you have to answer on of mine." He reached into his desk and fished around for something.
"Alright, what do you need?" Tai agreed.
Neo found the trinket that he was looking for and placed it on top of the desk. "Do you know what this is?"
Tai stared at the small, dark object that Neo placed on the table, his eyes widening when he quickly recognized what it was. "Where did you get this?" He asked, picking it up to get a closer look.
"So you know what it is?" Neo said, noting Tai's surprise.
"Yeah." He replied, his shock wearing off. "This is a Crest."
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"There he is!" Davis exclaimed, pointing to a silhouette. "Veemon, get him!"
"Right!" Veemon exclaimed.
"Where? The rest of us don't have goggles Davis!" Yolie exclaimed.
VEE HEADBUTT!
Veemon charged at the silhouette and fell back to the recoil of the Yield Sign. "Oh that's gonna hurt in the morning." He groaned.
"Oops, sorry buddy." Davis said, making his way to his partner.
"Armadillomon, can you see anything?" Cody asked, squinting to prevent that much sand from hitting his eyes.
"Only the tip of my nose, pardner. I don't know my left from my right anymore." He complained.
"Silphymon, can you find anything?" Kari asked the fusion.
The ultimate scanned the area, his visor unaffected by the sand. "Nothing so far." He said in his duel voices. "It takes a while to scan through the sand, but I there's nothing strange."
"THEN IT'S PROBABLY BROKEN!" A fierce voice roared.
SKULL HAMMER!
A powerful blow slammed into the fusion, who flew back and crashed into a one-way sign. "Greetings Digidestined!" The chuckling voice of Skullsatamon echoed from the shadows of the sandstorm. "Lovely weather today, isn't it?!"
ASTRAL LASER!
A laser struck flew at Skullsatamon through the unpredictable sandstorm. The skeleton digimon narrowly dodged the blast. "Think it's working NOW!?" Silphymon screeched at him.
"It's Skullsatamon!" Davis realized.
"Didn't we bury this guy already?" Yolie said as she tried to cover her mouth.
"QUITE!" Skullsatamon rammed into Silphymon and blew the fusion away with his staff. "Though now I'm sure I'm not quite the same Skullsatamon that you remember."
He chuckled and faced the Digidestined while Silphymon struggled to quickly recover from the attack. Veemon and Armadillomon already Armor-Digivolved into Raidramon and Digmon and stood ready to defend the humans. Skullsatamon gave out a malicious chuckling. "Don't you all just LOVE the feeling of the sands eating away at your bones?"
"You can eat this! Get him Raidramon!" Davis ordered.
THUNDER BLAST!
The feeble attack missed Skullsatamon by several feet. "Raidramon…" Davis groaned.
"Um… sand got in my eyes?"
Skullsatamon scoffed. "Fine then! You lot have no tolerance for pleasant weather, oh well, after all your friend didn't seem to be too fond of it either."
"What … friend?" The gogglehead growled.
"Like I'm telling you!" The skeleton Digimon snickered as he barreled from Silphymon's Static Force, then quickly flew away into the sandstorm.
"Silphymon, can you see where he's going?" Kari asked.
"Don't lose him!" Yolie added, climbing up on Silphymon's shoulder. Kari did the same, and the fusion quickly flew after Skullsatamon.
"Hey! Wait for us!" Davis exclaimed as he scrambled on Raidramon. "Let's go Raidramon!"
The armored dragon ran after Silphymon, and instantly crashed into a road sign. "I'm ok! Raidramon groaned, before charging recklessly into another pole.
"Should we wait for him Digmon?" Cody asked.
"Nah, we have enough problems here, we need to find Tk as soon as possible."
"Right, Davis can take care of himself." Cody reasoned as Raidramon had another crash. "I hope."
Meanwhile, Silphymon continued to blast Static Forces at Skullsatamon, who narrowly dodged most of them.
ASTRAL LASER!
NAIL BONE!
The two energy attacks cancelled each other out and obliterated most of the swirling sand in the air. Kari and Yolie could see slightly better with the lesser amount of sand, and quickly looked around the area to see if the "friend" Skullsatamon mentioned was nearby.
"Kari, Yolie. I'll drop you off here. Go search for our friend." The duel voices said.
The girls looked at their partner for a moment and quickly ran back into the storm. Silphymon waited for the girls to leave before turning back to Skullsatamon, who waited on a sign in anticipation. "Are you finished with your touching moment now?"
The skeleton hopped down from the sign and smashed his club into the ground, blasting more dirt into the storm. Silphymon flew backwards, hissed and shot a Static Force. Skullsatamon swiftly avoided the attack, rushing towards his enemy. The fusion lunged back from the Ultimate, scratching him in his face when he came close. The skeleton swung his staff, but Silpymon latched on to it and landed a heavy slash with his talons.
Skullsatamon shook Silphymon off of his staff and rushed down Silphymon when he crashed into a sign. "Is that all you've got!" Silphymon hissed, punching Skullsatamon in the face.
The skeleton took the attack and then head-butt Silphymon. Then he began to rush down on Silphymon, relentlessly beating down on the fusion Digimon. Silphymon had no special attacks for close combat and struggled to get away, but Skullsatamon had grabbed one of the broken signs and started using it along with his staff. The fusion struggled to get away, defending
himself from the onslaught for the moment.
We can't take much more of this! Aquilamon thought.
I know! Gatomon thought back. Just hold on, I have a plan!
Skullsatamon then pressed him down with the sign and raised his staff.
BONE HAMMER!
Silphymon quickly raised his hands and charged a Static Force, holding it between his hands. Skullsatamon saw the energy ball after he had swung and only had time to give a nervous chuckle before the two attacks detonated.
The skeleton flew backwards into a row of signs. He slowly stood up and looked around in the storm. There was no sign of Silphymon. Skullsatamon gave a menacing chuckle as he checked the area. The sandstorm already began to sweep over the charred sand. "Did they blow up?" He complencated. "Now I should catch up to the others before they get my hostage, I'm not finished with him yet."
"NEITHER ARE WE! ASTRAL LASER!"
A blast struck Skullsatamon directly in the chest. The skeleton crashed into the signs again, a couple of his ribs broken. Silphymon stood triumphantly over Skullsatamon, whose data began to escape into the air. "It's over Skullsatamon." The fusion declared. "You're defeated again, now tell us where our friend is!"
Skullsatamon gave a weak chuckle and raised his staff. "Silphymon, Silphymon, who ever said I lost?"
The black orb on top of the staff pulsed with dark light, engulfing his body. GET AWAY! All of Gatomon's instincts screamed in their body, sensing a familiar sense of darkness. Silphymon quickly jumped back from the light as Skullsatamon chuckled maniacally in the swirling shadows.
"SKULLSATAMON! MEGA DIGIVOLVE TOO!"
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"We're getting nowhere Davis!" Raidramon groaned as he staggered away from another pole.
Davis sighed as he looked around the desert again. Something caught his eye, one of the signs nearby had a strange bulge on its pole. "I think I see something!" Davis exclaimed, pointing to it. "Go that way!"
"Right!" Raidramon said as he turned the other way.
"Not that way! That way!" Davis said.
"Davis I can't see in this!" Raidramon complained. "You have to guide me better, otherwise we won't get anywhere!"
Davis looked at the vague shape in the distance. "Alright then! I'll be your eyes. Do you trust me partner?"
Raidramon gave a hearty chuckle. "One hundred percent, partner."
Davis gave a large grin in return, and after spitting out the sand that slipped into his mouth. "Alright! Turn… Left! Now forward! Left! Right! Stop, forward!" Davis could feel Raidramon following his orders perfectly. He could see the bulge clearer now, recognizing it as Tk. "Raidramon, do you see him?"
"Perfectly." The digimon replied, lunging up towards the bound Digidestined, easily slicing though the bindings with this horn. Davis quickly grabbed his falling friend while Raidramon gracefully landed, however the weight tipped him out off of his partner and into the sand.
Raidramon degenerated back to Veemon and helped his partner with Tk. The Bearer of Hope fidgeted uncomfortably in the sand.
The goggled Digidestined sighed, leaning back against the sign. At least one of his friends was back, although he didn't see Patamon around. He wondered what happened in the days that they had been captive and hoped that they'll save Ken soon.
"Where am I?" He heard a groan, quickly scrambling over to Tk. "Why is there sand everywhere?"
"Glad to have you back!" Davis grinned.
Tk groaned as Veemon put a cloth over his mouth, helping him breathe easier. "What's happening?"
"Just a giant skeleton trying to kill us." Veemon said.
"Yup, just the usual." Davis snickered.
Tk just gave him a tired look. "So where are the others… are they alright?"
"They're mainly looking for you." He said, searching for his D-terminal. "I should tell them that you're here."
After a few minutes, they heard some voices in the distance.
"Hey Davis!" A person exclaimed. Davis glanced around and saw Kari and Yolie stumbling through the sand.
"Kari! …Yolie! Where's Silphymon?"
"Holding off Skeletor back there." Yolie said.
"Tk!" Kari exclaimed, running over to his side. "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Just tired, Kari." Tk groaned.
"That's good to hear." Kari signed, kneeling and hugging him.
"Get a room." Veemon sighed.
Just then, the storm started to subside, wind dying down and the clouds thinned. The storm is over. "Yes! It's over!" Davis exclaimed. "Wait… shouldn't we check on Silphymon?"
"Oh right!" Kari said, jumping up. "The fight should be over now, right?"
"It's over alright." A sinister voice chuckled.
Tk and Kari froze, recognizing the voice from their nightmares. With dread the Digidestined turned around and faced a floating sneering Digimon. The Digimon chucked down two objects crashing into the sand. Yolie shrieked as she recognized her partner, Pururumon, squirming in pain in the crater.
Kari and Tk remained frozen in their places, minds wondering why the Mega level was still alive, hovering over them with glee.
"Tk and Kari! It's been so long, won't you give your ol' Uncle Piedmon a hug?"
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YES! It's done! Sorry for the wait, November was so hectic.
Anyways, thanks to those who've favorite and followed since last time,
and thanks to Kojo208 for reviewing.
Till next time,
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